Dude, where's my robotic clone?

Lydia Leavitt, 8th March 2011

Have you ever wondered what a robotic clone would look and feel like? Well, meet Geminoid DK, the robot of nightmares for Automatonophics throughout the galaxy.

Looking like it walked straight out of Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum, the Geminoid DK is the latest incarnation of Aalborg University Professor Henrik Scharfe - in super realistic robotic form, that is.

Designed by Hiroshi Ishiguro, a professor at Osaka University and his team at Japan’s Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International, the robot is the first in a series based on non-Japanese personalities.

"Geminoid DK will be the first of its kind outside of Japan," the group explains on the robot's website.

Ishiguro based his first realistic robot on himself, the second on a young Japanese model and now, on Danish professor Scharfe.

"In a couple of weeks I will go back to Japan to participate in the experiments," Scharfe toldIEEE Spectrum Magazine.

"After that, the robot is shipped to Denmark to inhabit a newly designed lab."

Although somewhat vague, Ishiguro explains the groups’ main function is to further understand the "emotional affordances" in human-robot interaction.

So, how do they work?

Well, the Geminoids are remotely controlled by an operator and feature advanced motion-capture technology - allowing robots to mimic facial expressions and accurately emulate head movements.

With a robot this realistic I wouldn’t be surprised if Scharfe took extended lunches every day this summer while his robot clone lounges at his desk in Denmark.

Sit the robot in the back of a crowded class and your instructor may never notice you skipped out every day. Or, have your robot stand in for you on awkward first dates. Sure, he may not say a lot, but half of life is just about showing up, right?